Photo-printing system and apparatus



April 1940- M. H. LOUGHRIDGE ET AL 7 PHOTO-PRIN'JLING SYSTEM AND APPARATUS Filed July 22, 1957 3 Sheets-Sheet l 44 4.5 60 72 %2 l 5.2 49 46 5 a as 91 45 47 89 9562 gao 1g 48 4 6 5 4 LO 66 7 29 f9 '38 9 x\ Z2 33 36 6 a lfo 15 0 c 67 of! A 2 a 2 April 1940- M. H. LOUGHRIDGE ET AL 2.198.627

PHOTO-PRINTING SYSTEM AND APEARATUS Filed July 22, 1957 3 Sheets-Sheet 2 April 30, 1940.

M. H. LOUGHRIDGE El AL 2 1 8,627

PHOTO-PRINTING SYSTEM AND APPARATUS Filed July 22, 1937 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 5 63 94 L. 92 9 Fig.5

-3 .10? 39 v o 0 Q 0 O 60 13 7642 99 76 VC) 0 7 O O O 0 0 J r" fi/ 75 i Patented Apr. 30, 1940 PATENT OFFICE PHOTO-PRINTING SYSTEM AND APPARATUS Matthew H. Loughridge, Bogota, N. J., and Robert Stuart, Forest Hills, N. Y.

Application July 22, 1937, Serial No. 154,974

20 Claims.

This invention relates to a photo-printing system and the apparatus used in connection therewith and it has for an object to provide a mechanism for automatically photo-printing by time exposures; another object of the invention is to provide a photo-printing and enlarging system; another object of the invention is to provide a printing wheel or drum for printing the subject of a film onto a band of paper in which the mechanism is automatically controlled by the film and by the paper band; another object of the invention is to provide a printing wheel driven by friction from a drive shaft and which can be readily disconnected from the drive; an-

other object of the invention is to provide a rotating printing wheel for a film and a band of paper with a take-up mechanism driven by friction from the printing wheel and another object of the invention resides in the use of a pneumatic controlling system for the take-up of the film and the paper hand.

These and other objects of the invention will be more particularly understood from the following specification and the accompanying drawings, in which:

Fig. 1 is a sectional elevation of the printing wheel mechanism taken on line l--l of Fig. 3;

Fig. 2 is a side elevation of a printing machine complete corresponding to Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a plan view of the machine shown in Fig. l with part of the cover removed to show the paper and the film reels;

Fig. 4 is a plan view, partly sectioned, of a portion of the pivoted supporting arm;

Fig. 5 is a plan view of the printing wheel, sectioned on line 5-5 of Fig. 6 and with the cover removed for three sections;

Fig. 6 is a side elevation of the printing drums corresponding to Fig. 5;

Fig. 7 is a detail, partly sectioned, showing the mounting of the drum for the film;

Fig. 8 is a diagram showing the pneumatic control of the system;

Fig. 9 is a front elevation of a tracker board and a portion of the paper band for controlling the operation;

' Fig. 10 shows the control of the friction wheel by a diaphragm;

Fig. 11 shows the application at a composite 5o film.

U. S. Patent 2,081,187 issued May 25, 1937, shows a photo-printing system in which the subjects of a motion picture film are transferred and enlarged upon a band of paper. This pat- 55 cut uses a printing wheel in carrying out the process and provides a time exposure for printing each picture while the film and the paper band are automatically fed to the machine. The present invention relates to a machine of this type and provides for mounting a plurality of these machines on a vertical stand driven by friction from a common drive shaft. Each machine is mounted on a pivoted arm upon which the rotating wheel has its bearings and in operation engages the friction wheel of the drive shaft to operate the machine. The pivoted arm is provided with a spring toggle which normally maintains the friction drive but when the arm is swung out from the engaging position over the toggle this mechanism holds the machine in the inactive position. Any machine may be moved to the inactive position for reloading while the other machines, operated by the same drive, continue in operation.

The machine is provided with a drum for the film at the top with a source of light in the center and with windows, in the drum which register with the frames of the film. If desired, teeth may be provided on the film drum for engaging the apertures of the film. Parallel with the film drum a film reel is provided for feeding the film to the drum and a corresponding takeup reel is provided for taking the film off the drum.

The paper band, as illustrated in the drawings, is arranged for printing an enlargement of the film subjects and is placed around the drum on the printing wheel which is correspondingly larger than the drum used for the film. This drum is also provided with windows and with light chambers so that the optical system projects the subject of each frame of the film upon the paper band and this condition is maintained in fixed relation throughout substantially a revolution of the drum, so that the speed of the drum regulates the length of the time exposure. A reel is provided for feeding the paper band to the drum and a second reel is provided for taking off this paper band after the printing operation.

The take-up reels for the film and for the paper band are driven by a friction drive from the printing wheel with a belt connection to each reel and the usual slip connection in the drive that is provided in take-up devices of this kind. In order that the mechanism may be stopped when the film has ended or in case it breaks, or when the paper band ends or is broken, a mechanism is provided for disengaging this friction wheel under these circumstances and thereby byacuttingpmcesandappliedtothe stopping the operation of the take-up mechanism. This control mechanism is operated pneumatically bymeans oi the diaphragm chamber, which controls the bearing support of the friction wheel and when subject to normal air pressure the normal tension of the di pulls the friction wheel away from its drive and disconnects the drive for the take-up reel. On the other hand, when the diaphragm chamber is vacuumed the external air pressure, acting on the diaphragm, forces the friction wheel into engagement and atahlishes the drive for the takeup mechanism. A tracker board is provided for the paper band adjacent to the reels. This tracker board is connected with the pneumatic system of the diaphragm chamber and when the paper band moves over this device it seals the connection with the pneumatic system, until the end of the band is reached or until a portion is reached having an apertln-e provided for control poses- Whenanarrowiilmisuseditmaynotbepracticaltouseatiackerboardhavinganapermre sealed by the film itself.

drive i! the fllm should mted subject to be ad The invention, however, admits oi amuchwiderusethanthisasitispossibleto concentrate a considerable amount of written matterorpictm'esinthetramesotevenasmall tilmand thentoenlargethesesubjectstorgeneral For instance, picture film may contain the In general, the ootoaturntablelroundwhicharowoi' camerashavebeenplacedeaehwithiu individual Optical r and andfliepaperhandasthe Inthedrawings,

mounted for each printing wheel. 'Ihe printing wheel il,1"ig.l,ismo1mtedontheball it on the supporting arm I! and the ball hearing it, on the hollow stem II. and is driven by frictional mement with the wheel II. A pair oi pipe supports II and 22 support the shaft II and sup- P rt the bracket II which is hinged at 23 and It through the pivot II to the arm II. The stem ll of the bracket 2. is formed on an inclined plane as indicated in Fig. 4 and engages the plunger 21 ontheinclinediaeewhichisopposedbysprinl 28 inthe arm II. In the position shown in Fig. 4, the plunger 21 moves the arm I! to secure ensssement between ll may continue in exposure. In the arrangement shown in Fig. l, where the fllm 42 leads out horizontally from the film the plied belt I! engaging the belt wheel 63 connected with the reel GI and the wheel 94 on the stem 65 connected with the friction wheel 96 which engages the printing wheel i5. I

The paper reel '1l feeds the paper band II to the paper drum 39. This paper band is taken oil by the reel 19 which has a take-up drive comprising the belt 99, the belt wheel 69 connected with the reel 10 and the belt wheel 61 connected with the stem 65, The take-up mechanism 'isadjusted to take up the paper under tension throughout the operation. A cover 13 is provided for the paper reels as indicated in Fig. 2 and the cover 1! is provided for the film reels. When two films arefto be printed in superimposed relation a film reel 15 may be provided for the film 16 which is fed to the film drum in and is taken off on the reel 11. The results illustrated in Fig. 11 may be obtained by this arrangement in which the film 0. represents the master film, the film b represents the superimposed film and represents the combined results from a and b. In a the letter 18 is produced and in b the name and address 19 is supplied which at 0 gives a completely addressed letter as indicated at 80. It should be observed that if this system is to be used for reproducing a circular letter only, then the master film is aparound the film drum 30 and does not require a feeding and a take-up reel, It will be noted from Figs. 1 and 3 that the film reels 60 and SI are mounted upon the stationary part of the cover which covers the paper drum. This places the film close to the film drum, however, if the film reels are comparatively large, also if the paper reels are comparatively large, they may be moved away from the printing wheel.

The take-up mechanism is controlled by engaging, or disengaging, the friction wheel 66. This wheel, Fig. 10, is mounted on a bearing support 8| which is carried on a sliding arm 82, pivoted to the vertical rod 84 which pivots at 95 and connects by link 86, to rod 81, pivoted at 88 and connecting at 89 to the diaphragm 90 of the diaphragm chamber 9| which is rigidly supported at 92 by the arm l1. It will be noted that if air is exhausted from the chamber 9| the friction wheel 66 will be moved to the right due to the action of the atmosphere on the diaphragm 90, this establishes a frictional drive for the shaft 65. On the other hand, if the vacuum in the chamber 9| is destroyed, the diaphragm 90, by its normal bias, moves the wheel 66 to the left and disengages the friction drive, A manual release is also provided for this friction drive, comprising the pin 93 in the arm 82 engaged by cam 94, pivoted in the support 83 and operated by the handle 95, Fig. 8.

The motor l3 operates a suction pump 96 connected by the pipe 91 with the pneumatic system which operates the diaphragm chamber 9|. Pipe 91 connects to the tracker board I03 at reel 1| and I04 at reel 10. These tracker boards are constructed as indicated in Fig. 9 with an aperture I connected with pipe 91. This aperture is normally sealed by the paper band 4| so that the vacuum in 9| may be maintained. When the end of the paper band is reached, a slot Hi may be provided therein which will operate to stop the take-up mechanism at this point, and of course, if the paper band becomes broken, the

seal is thereby destroyed and the friction drive is stopped.

A valve 99 connects with pipe 91 and is controlled by lever Hi0, pivoted at "II and biased to an open position by spring in. A roller 89 on this lever engages the film 42 where it is maintained taut by the take-up mechanism and the valve is thus maintained closed until the end of the film is reached when it is opened and operates to disengage the friction drive.

A peep sight 4! is provided whereby the subject being printed may be viewed on the reflector as The pneumatic control may be applied to other parts of the apparatus, as for instance, to disconnect the friction drive between I! and I6 and to extinguish the light used for printing but which is not illustrated in the drawings.

Having thus described our invention, we claim: \l. A photo-printing apparatus comprising a printing wheel having a drum for the .film and for the paper arranged in optical relation for photo-printing, a drive shaft with a continuously rotating drive wheel, a pivoted arm supporting said printing wheel in frictional engagement with said drive wheel and a toggle mechanism controlling said arm for the engagement and disengagement of said driving wheel and printing wheel.

2. A photo-printing apparatus comprising a plurality of printing wheels, each having a drum for the film and for the paper arranged in optical relation for photo-printing, a common drive shaft, a drive wheel on said shaft for each printing wheel, a pivoted arm supporting each printing wheel in frictional engagement with its drive wheel and means for independently releasing each printing wheel from its drive wheel,

3. A photo-printing apparatus comprising a printing wheel having a small drum for the film and a large drum for the paper arranged on a different plane and in optical relation'for photoprinting, means for rotating said drums, an arm pivotally supporting said wheel independently of said rotating means, a film reel and a paper reel supported by said arm independently of said wheel and means for rotating said wheel and for feeding the film and the paper to the drum to be printed.

4. A photo-printing apparatus comprising a printing wheel having a drum for a film and a larger drum for a paper band, a film reel and a paper reel, means for rotating said wheel, means for feeding the film to the film drum and the paper to the paper drum in optical relation for photo-printing, a take-up reel for the film and a take-up reel for the paper, a friction wheel engaging said printing wheel and means connecting said friction wheel with said take up reels for operating the take-up reels.

5. A photo-printing apparatus comprising a printing wheel, a film reel and a paper reel, means for rotating said wheel, means for feeding the film and the paper to the wheel in optical relation for photo-printing, a take-up reel for the film and a take-up reel for the paper, and a friction wheel engaging said printing wheel for operating the take-up reels means controlled by the paper and by the film for disengaging the friction wheel from the printing wheel and manually operated means for independently disengaging the friction wheel from the printing wheel.

'6. A photo-printing apparatus comprising a printing wheel, a film reel and apaper reel, means for rotating said wheel, means for feeding the film and the paper to the wheel in optical relation for photo-printing, a take-up reel for the film and a take-up reel for the paper and a friction wheel engaging saidprinting wheel for op- 'erating the take-up reel and pneumatic means controlled by the paper for disengaging the friction wheel from the printing wheel.

7. A photo-printing apparatus comprising a printing wheel, a film reel and a paper reel, means for rotating said wheel, means for feeding the film and the paper to the wheel in optical relation for photo-printing, a take-up reel for the film anda' take-up reel for the paper and a friction wheel engaging said printing wheel for operating the take-up reel and pneumatic means controlled by the film for disengaging the friction wheel from the printing wheel.

8. A photo-printing apparatus comprising a printing wheel, a film reel and a paper reel, means for rotating said wheel, means for feeding the film and the paper to the wheel in optical relation for photo-printing, a take-up reel for the film and a take-up reel for the paper and a friction wheel engaging said printing wheel for operating the take-up reel and pneumatic means controlled by the paper and by the film for disengaging the friction wheel from the printing wheel.

9. A photo-printing apparatus comprising a printing wheel, a film reel and a paper reel, friction means for driving said printing wheel, means for feeding the film and the paper to the printing wheel in optical relation for photo-printing, a take-up reel for the film, a take-up reel for the paper, friction means operated by said printing wheel for driving said take-up reels and means for disconnecting the friction drive of the printing wheel and means for disconnecting the friction drive of the take-up reels.

10. A photo-printing apparatus comprising a printing wheel, a film reel and a paper reel, means for rotating said wheel, means for feeding the film and the paper to the wheel in optical relation for photo-printing, a take up reel, a friction '11. A photo-printing apparatus comprising a printing wheel, a film reel and a paper reel, means for rotating said wheel. means for feeding the film and the paper to the wheel in optical relation for photo-printing, a take-up reel, a friction drive operated by said printing wheel for said take-up reel and a diaphragm chamber connected with said friction drive operating to disconnect the drive when air is admitted to the chamber.

12. A photo-printing apparatus comprising a printing wheel, a film reel and a paper reel, means for feeding the film and the paper separately to different portions of said printing wheel in optical relation for photo-printing from the film to the paper on an enlarged scale, a take up reel for said film, a take-up reel for said paper, frictionally engaging means for driving said takemeans of said take-up reels.

13. A photo-printing apparatus comprising a printing wheel, a film reel and a paper reel,

ing, a take-upreelforsaidfilmatake-upreel for said paper. pneumatically controlled means for driving said take-up reels. a valve controlling said pneumatic controlled means, and means opvaive.

14. A photo-printing apparatus comprising a rotating printing wheel having a film drum and a paper drum located in optical relation, a cover for said wheel, a bearing for said wheel and a swinging arm supporting one member of said bearing and rigidly supporting said cover.

15. A photo-printing apparatus comprising a rotating printing wheel having a paper drum with printing apertures, a separate film drum with printing apertures centered on said wheel and means for locking said film drum on said wheel with its printing apertures in register with the printing apertures of said paper drum, a light in the centre of said wheel for printing from the film to the paper and means for feeding the paper and the film as said wheel rotates.

16. A photo-printing system a stand with a vertical drive shaft having a plurality of friction wheels thereon, an arm pivoted on said stand for each friction wheel, a printing wheel rotatably mounted on each arm, said printing wheel having a paper drum and a film drumlocated in optical relation for printing from the film to the paper, each of said printing wheels being brought into engagement with its corresponding friction wheel when its arm is moved in one direction and disengaged from the friction wheel when the arm is moved in the opposite direction.

17. A photo-printing system as in claim 16, in which the movement of each arm is controlled by a togsle 18. A photo-printing apparatus comprising a rotating printing wheel having a film drum and a paper drum located in optical relation for printingfromthefilmtothepapenacoverforlaid wheel, a take up reel for said paper, arm supporting one member of said bearing. supporting said cover rigidly and supporting said paper take up reelandmeansoperativelyoonnecting said printingwheelwithsaidtakeupreels.

20., A photo-printing apparatus comprising a rotating printing wheel having a film drum and a paper drum located in optical relation for printing from the film to the'pape a take-up reel m'rrnnw a. muolmrnor. Roam-r STUART. 

